Its jacked up as far as my jack will lift it and on a stand, but its still tight to work under and getting welding spatter down my neck every couple of minutes is a novelty that wore off really fast lol I stopped worrying about the patina after the first round of flap wheeling on the body so not a problem.....i reckon I can recreate the overall effect by repainting in off white base, then giving it a couple of coats of neptune blue and rubbing it through to the white strategically not real patina like now but I can live with it. So basically I have to cut out the bottom of the arch where it meets the back of the sliding door aperture?
Yes. Either cut leaving the last inch or so (and correct profile/bend) next to the C post, or round the corner 5mm into the seal channel. Don't weld near the corner or you'll spoil it's nice bend. Replacement panels don't have such a sharp radius fold so if you have og right down to the sill you might want to keep that. If it was a cacky job of a replacemnt panel, you might want to cut it all off. Exactly how to approach depends on what you have to start with a lot of the time. Many ways to skin a cat. Cut a couple of inches off so you can judge where the floor is and keep your cuts below - that's all you need to remove and it keeps the sparks and welding out of the interior (fire!).
The wheelarch has been replaced back to the sill anyway, and the bodyline is a few mm out in that area as can be seen here http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d60/NaVsS/Mobile Uploads/IMG_20150604_152458.jpg It tapers the wrong way at the bottom 12 inches of the door, so I wouldnt mind sorting that out anyway. So cut across the arch just below the door aperture line?
I see what you mean, all the curl is at the bottom, I expect it bodgy repairs and filler rather than a bought part, they're not that bad! Mind the C post and the inner arch towards the ends and only a mm or so behind the panel. I see a lot of accidental cuts through the C-post when I take these panels off. lol. It's helpful to cut out a safe rectangle first so you can see where everything behind is, then cut outv what you really want after.
Yeah I imagine thats easily done.....i accidently nipped into the supporting frame of the sliding door when I cut the skin off lol I think I need to get a resto book or something to follow, its starting to sound more complicated than I envisaged and I dont want to make a pigs ear of it
Hahaha when an expert tells me its a ballache of a job, it makes me wanna have another crack at patching it and covering it in fiberglass lol
